My recommendation: be selective.

Relationships are valuable, and good ones take time. Given that time is in limited supply, we need to be selective when it comes to choosing who to focus our energy on.

In my experience, those who take more energy from you than they bring aren’t worth your time—or your energy.

Those who bring energy are worth the effort it takes to build and maintain a lasting relationship with. They’re the people I’ve decided to focus my efforts on. In my experience, the individuals who energize me are:

1. Honest
2. Reliable
3. Interesting

Honest

Anyone can be honest. Being honest well is something of an art form. In my mind, this means giving a well thought-out answer while softening the blow.

I’m learning this from someone who brings energy to the table every single time I meet with her. This person makes the brass knuckles under a velvet glove concept work in her favour.

When she says you communicate clearly and you’re so good at letting people know how you feel, what she’s really saying is you’re direct, bordering on aggressive. Constructive criticism can often be tough to receive, but she was honest so well that she gave me the energy to work on improving this aspect of my personality.

Reliable

You know that person who cancels two out of every three meetings you’ve scheduled?

This was another learning curve for me. The first step to being reliable is to know how to say NO. If you don’t know whether you can make it—to a wedding dress fitting for your lovely sister-in-law-to-be, to a board meeting, or to family games night—don’t commit.

It’s like dating: most people would prefer to have no plans at all than to be ready to go in fabulous black pants, a black silk top, killer stilettos, hair curled, and mascara perfected, only to receive a last minute cancellation from the dinner date.

If you aren’t sure if you can fulfill your commitment, don’t make one. Your excuses will be transparent, and will zap energy faster than you can get out of your killer stilettos and into your Lulus.

Interesting

Think of the most interesting person you know. This is the person who, when you plan a cocktail party, you look into their availability before selecting a date.

This is the person who shows up with a bottle of pink champagne sporting a massive ribbon around the neck, who’s telling a story before her coat’s off, and who causes everyone sitting at the kitchen island to breathe a sigh of relief because they know with absolute certainty that this individual’s arrival signals the end of strained conversation and water refills.

These are the people who bring energy—life—to a party, and to your life.

Those who give more energy than they take—people who are honest, reliable, and interesting—those people are worth every ounce of energy you devote to fostering a strong relationship with.

Not only are these ideal qualities to look out for in other people, but they’re also worth cultivating in yourself. Develop these qualities and you’ll find that people will put more effort into fostering their relationships with you—business and otherwise.

The Olympics are an enormous undertaking. The different venues, throngs of athletes, and ticket sales are a few aspects that make it extremely challenging to pull together. Though I haven’t worked at an Olympics I have been fortunate to work on some large international events. Early in my engagement at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics I attended our Integrated Planning Team meeting. This brought together all 17 of our divisions to discuss what each division was doing to plan and execute the World’s. Approximately 55 people were at this meeting underscoring to me the level of complexity in pulling off this major track and field championship.

Having attended the recent Vancouver Olympics this level of complexity was brought up to me again just walking around town. Whether it was the numerous 2010 marked vehicles driving around or the multiple banners flying all over the city it’s difficult to comprehend how much detail goes into making an event of this size a success. I bring this up because it underscored how crucial those details are and how, from a marketing perspective, they can make or break an activity.

There are two examples that stood out for me in Vancouver. At the gold medal hockey game (yes, I was one of the very fortunate ones who was there live and in person) the atmosphere was amazing. A loud ocean of red spread inside and out of Canada Hockey Place but it was two little things that truly enhanced my experience.

• First was a simple countdown with five minutes prior to faceoff that led into a great, high energy video showing athletic accomplishments from all winter games sports.
• This was immediately followed by the Black Eyed Peas song “I’ve Got a Feeling”. Now whether you like or dislike the song, it was a perfect choice to keep the crowd on its feet, clapping in unison anticipating the arrival of Team Canada.

The second example was the other ocean that spread around Vancouver. This was one of blue clad volunteers who were located literally everywhere. If you were going to an event, they were directing you with megaphones. If you were on the Sky Train, they were there greeting you coming out of the station. If you were simply standing on the corner of Granville and Georgia they were there saying hi. The key though isn’t that they were there it’s that they were very helpful. In my time, it’s often difficult with a large pool of volunteers to ensure they’re fully trained but this group was amazing. Each volunteer was part information provider, ambassador and crowd motivator. The attention to detail to have these people not only blanketing the city but also fully trained was fantastic because it made the experience as a visitor much easier.

The events are what capture the attention at an Olympic Games but it’s the high attention to detail amidst the planning chaos that makes the difference. Those seemingly little things cap the experience and make it memorable. It could make it easier or more fun but it does something to enhance it. This is one detail good marketers know already.

This title, first shared with me by a friend and mentor and often attributed to Peter Drucker, encompasses the power of setting expectations. Measurement is not always fun and sexy, but it is powerful. It allows you to build a real understanding (rather than rely on a gut feeling), make informed decisions, and ensure accountability.

Below are a few quick thoughts about measurement.

Get A System (And Use It!)

Leads, conversions, client interactions, and the success of specific channels, promotions, or individuals are all relatively easy things to measure. If you’re doing this now, then you’re already off to a great start. If you’re not, there are many systems available to help you and your team track this information. Pick one and start collecting.

It never ceases to amaze me how many times I speak with successful business people and find out that they have no system or rigour for tracking their success. What they are failing to understand is how much more successful they could be if they just gathered and evaluated some basic business intelligence.

Figure Out What’s Important

Not everything you measure is of equal value. Some of what’s important may change over time or depend on circumstance, but there are a couple of key indicators that really drive your business and that you need to pay attention to. Here’s a hint—it’s not revenue or profitability. Yes, these are important, but what’s more important is understanding what causes improvements to revenue and profitability. If you’re thinking customer retention, repeat purchases, referrals, results by channel or segment, or client and employee satisfaction, you’re getting closer.

Figure out what’s important and focus your team around these key indicators.

What Gets Measured Gets Done

After you’ve figured out your key indicators, the next step is to have a plan. Developing a plan with measurable objectives for each area of your business sets the expectation and allows you to have informed discussions about what is and isn’t working.

A traditional example would be when your salespeople need to generate X leads with a conversion ratio of Y and an average sales Z to meet your basic sales expectations. If you set the expectation and measure the results, you can manage against it. This goes for all areas of your business, not just sales and marketing. HR, IT, Finance, and Operations should all have specific key measurements with regards to how they contribute to your business.

Measure it, understand it, and get it done.

Like “service,” correct spelling and grammar are not things to advertise you do well. It’s expected.

If a company’s signage catches your eye, it’s likely you will look further, go to the website, pick up a brochure, or read the annual report, and your written content is put to the test.

Your words are a critical part of your brand’s lasting impression.

When prospects or potential clients come across content mistakes, including bad grammar, misspellings, and fact errors, they will do one of two things:

1. abort and forget about you, or
2. keep reading and have trouble taking you seriously.

As a rule, if you’re the writer, you shouldn’t be the editor. After several drafts of writing, it is easy for meaning and message to become misconstrued and for mistakes to get overlooked.

Failing to edit your content can be embarrassing and leave you looking unprofessional. Also, reprinting can be costly and stressful if you are working with a deadline. On the other extreme, editing can maintain your credibility and help you deliver a clear and concise message consistent with your brand.

Before projects go to print or get published to the Web, content generally goes through four editing stages:

Developmental Editing:

• helps to develop content from initial concept, research, and outline
• ensures messages are being delivered succinctly
• makes suggestions based on analysis of competing works and market analysis

Substantive Editing:

• reorganization of paragraphs, sections to improve the order of text presented
• writing and rewriting segments of text to improve readability and flow of information

Copyediting:
(also called line editing)

• fact checking
• correcting errors in grammar, spelling, word usage, and style

Proofreading:

• the last check for errors as copy sits in its final layout before going to print

When facing a deadline, the last stages of editing and proofreading often get thrown by the wayside. But for your potential clients who take grammatical errors to heart, the editing process is worthwhile.

If the delivery of your brand is unexpectedly interrupted by a grammar glitch, it may have your audience wondering about the service or product you offer - especially if you can’t spell.

My buddy Mike likes to go to the Canadian Finals Rodeo to check out the horses. I think it’s a testosterone thing personally. (There’s nothing like a powerful, grunting, crap-where-he-wants-to, cowboy-eating stallion to bring out the man in a man; it makes us feel tough.) I’ve tagged along from time to time to meet the horses and I’ll tell you what (add in John Wayne accent here for effect), I’ve never met a horse that didn’t tell me he was the best.

During the chuckwagon races, I like to go down to the stables and talk to the horses before I make my big bet (Mike and I are high rollers—loser pays for beer). Walking down the long line of thoroughbreds, I see similar colours and sizes and hear similar grunting tones. And, it’s always the same story, “Hey man, bet on me—I promise I’ll get you to the finish line. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve won a lot of races. Check this saddle out—this thing is lighter than a feather and feels like velvet! All my jockeys love me—look at the testimonials! I won’t let you down—let’s do this thing. Sign here. Let’s make fools out of these other asses!”

It often reminds me of a typical sales ad: “Choose us! We’re the best. We’ve been around forever. We’ll get you to the finish line.” It also reminds me of the recent cold caller who somehow got past our almost impenetrable gatekeeping system, “Tell you what, sign up for a week. I won’t let you down. We guarantee the best service in our industry—let’s do this!”

Do you want to know what my first reaction is every time I’m confronted with a horse? It’s probably the same as yours and every other buyer we’ve interviewed over the past decade—pure SKEPTICISM.

We don’t trust the horse.

But here’s the kicker, we ARE the horse. Every time we pick up the phone and cold-call a prospect, send a cold prospect some direct mail, or place an advertisement that explains why we’re the best, we’re the horse. Every time we make a statement to a prospect that attempts to differentiate ourselves from our competitors (e.g., we provide great service!)—we’re the horse.

Based on our extensive research, it’s worse today than it ever has been. There’s just too many Herb Tarlics out there screwing it up for the rest of us. As global competition for buyer mindshare increases, the future looks even bleaker.

This trend doesn’t bode well for direct marketers, traditional advertisers, and cold callers. So, what should we do? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Don’t act like a horse. Don’t handle objections, don’t talk about your “value proposition,” and don’t slam your competitors. Interrupt the pattern. Successful sales people and advertisers have found ways to change the game without sounding like the horse.
2. Leverage the jockey. The jockey. That’s who we turn to in order to REALLY determine which horse to bet on. It’s a fact that 90% of successful companies in Western Canada (B2B and B2C) claim referrals are their best source of new business. We TRUST the jockey.
3. Sell your knowledge, not your proposition. “Listen, just like every other horse here, I’m a horse. Do you have any questions about horses or race tracks or horse shoes? Anything that would be helpful to know more about?”

New strategies are required in this skeptical age, an age that is fraught with horses competing for your buyer’s mindshare.

Branding. It’s one of the most commonly used marketing buzz words today and certainly one of the most misunderstood. Branding is too often confused as being just a company’s logo or its “look and feel.” That’s like saying someone’s clothes equal their personality. They contribute to it, but branding runs much deeper.

I like to think of branding as the lasting impression of everything that gets seen, heard, felt or experienced when someone comes in contact with you or your organization. This includes a number of things, for example:

• the way the receptionist answers the phone,
• the way your lobby looks,
• the writing style used on your website,
• the way you do presentations,
• and the way your products or services get delivered.

All of these items impact your brand. And make no mistake, good or bad, everyone and every organization has a brand.

So, how does one proactively and strategically manage one’s brand? Below are four key points to keep in mind when building a strong brand:

1. Transparent. A brand needs to be authentic and consistent. Can you deliver on it every time? People should have the same impression regardless of how they come in contact with your brand. For example, imagine if Campers Village staff all wore suits and ties to work. This inconsistency with the company’s outdoor, adventure-oriented image would send mixed signals and dilute the brand.
2. Compelling. Focus your brand on aspects that matter to the market. If turnaround time isn’t critical to your customers, don’t build a brand based on speed. Even if you are fast, the market won’t respond. It must matter to the market.
3. Different. If it doesn’t stand out from the competition, it won’t be as effective. A brand should be unique to your organization and not built around something other organizations can easily copy. Stand out. Be memorable!
4. Moving. The best brands move their audiences on an emotional level. They don’t focus on facts and numbers. They create an experience that triggers an emotional response. For instance, Nike builds its brand on abstract feelings such as empowerment and seizing the moment, not genuine leather or state-of-the-art shoelaces.

The Olympic Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver are mere weeks away. While the rush to get snow on Cypress Mountain, finalize transportation plans, and train volunteers is on, across Canada a large scale relationship building festival is taking place - the torch relay.

The torch relay has become a staple of the modern Olympics and is the first event people experience prior to the start of competition. Though the flame is the one connection back to the games of Ancient Greece, it wasn’t introduced to the modern games until 1928 in Amsterdam with the first relay taking place through Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria prior to Berlin’s 1936 games. Now it is a regular part of the lead up to an Olympic games and is the ultimate relationship builder for both organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In essence all that’s happening is the flame is literally being carried from Olympia, Greece to the Olympic host. However, what’s really taking place is the creation of millions of connections and Olympic followers along the whole path to the host city, thus generating a buildup of excitement prior to the games. For the Vancouver relay:

• 1,000 communities will have the flame visit them
• 45,000 km will be covered throughout Canada
• 12,000 torch bearers will be part of the relay
• 200 total torch celebrations will be organized

When you look at these numbers, it’s easy to see just how many people will have an up close and personal Olympic experience, even if they won’t be in Vancouver cheering on the athletes. Organizers, in fact, estimate that 90% of Canada’s population will be within a one hour drive of the route. Thousands upon thousands will create not only a patriotic furor, but will also be connected to a greater sense of belief in the essence of the Olympic movement - unity, friendliness, and sport. People remember these experiences. People share these experiences. From a marketing perspective you can’t ask for more because having people carry your story to others through unbiased referrals is invaluable. They do the talking for you.

The Olympic Games generates numerous opinions and views, but it can’t be refuted that with this relay across Canada, a simple marketing truth holds true. If you can create or enhance a relationship through a unique and positive experience, people will naturally gravitate to you. Counting the people on the road to Vancouver will tell you that.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization Edmonton (EO) celebrated entrepreneurship last month with keynote speaker Cameron Herald—former COO and co-founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I’m always skeptical about whether or not I’ll get value from speakers in a seminar format, but I’ve developed this habit where I try to take one thing from every speaker I listen to and, so far, I’ve had good success. To my delight, I got a whole pile of “things” from Herald.

Herald’s talk wasn’t about how to build an empire (it certainly could have been). Instead, he focused his discussion around a rollercoaster analogy. The idea is that every entrepreneurial-minded individual is “on the track” and, like it or not, there will be significant highs and lows and the journey will be tough. Herald shared some strategies around how to get through the highs (what he called uninformed optimism) and the lows. It was simple—and profound. I identified with every stage.

After his talk, I had an opportunity to chat with him. I asked him about success, and he immediately pointed to the strategies he used to build relationships.

Cameron: “We had over 5,000 (yup, 3 zeros!) media hits in the first 5 years of our company’s life.”

Me: “What was the secret?”

Cameron: “Well, I can tell you that it wasn’t really due to our successes, it was more about how we built relationships.”

Me: “Tell me more.”

Cameron: “I’ve always bypassed the reporters and gone straight to the writers, the camera operators, and the field staff. I’m still friends with a writer who I called up once. We ended up meeting and sharing a Manhattan—I gave him some perspective, and helped him with our story angle—the guy was thrilled to be talking to the source! Ever since, he’s become a huge ambassador for us. It’s pretty simple, treat people with respect and find a way to help them out—and big things come your way.”

Cameron: “We had an employee once who was struggling with his work so I asked him what his dreams were. He indicated that he had always wanted to sit in the box with the Vancouver Canucks during a hockey game. Turns out the writer I mentioned had some connections so I called in a favour and next thing I knew, my employee was at the game in the box with the coaching staff and players of the Canucks! The players liked him and took him out for beers afterwards…he doesn’t work for me anymore but, to this day, he’d break down walls for me.”

“How can I help?” versus “What can I get?” Five thousand media articles (and a globally recognized business) later and Cameron Herald’s riding the wave.

Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is social media? According to Wikipedia (which in itself is a social media platform):

“Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many).”

Social media is about creating conversations online. It’s about having the freedom to express your thoughts, without repercussions. It’s about spreading news regarding your positive experiences or expressing your anger about negative situations. It’s about sharing.

Before jumping on the social media bandwagon, organizations need to determine their target audience, outline their objectives for each social media platform (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, YouTube, Flickr), and develop a plan to ensure successful execution. Even though the various social media platforms are free to use, they are not free in terms of your time. It takes time to develop your social media strategy, and even more time to execute it. If it’s not properly executed, social media can have more of a negative impact than a positive one.

To ensure your time will be spent wisely, make sure to examine three things:

1. What is your target audience ready for?

In the book “Groundswell” written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff from Forrester Research (a highly recommended read), they identify 5 categories your audience can fit into:

• Creators – at least once a month publish a blog, maintain a Web page, upload videos or audio, etc.
• Critics – react to content online, post comments on blogs or online forums, post ratings or reviews, edit wikis
• Collectors – save URLS & tags on social bookmarking services, vote for sites, use RSS feeds
• Joiners – participate in or maintain profiles on social networking sites (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
• Spectators – consume what the rest produce (e.g., read blogs, online forums, reviews, listen to podcasts)
• In-actives – non-participants

If your audience includes creators, critics, collectors, or joiners, then implementing a social media strategy is a good idea (you’ll need to allocate the time and resources to do so). If your audience is made up of spectators, they will take in messages from social media; however, do not expect them to participate. Lastly, if your audience consists of in-actives, then perhaps it’s not worth your time to enter the world of social media. Always keep in mind who your audience is.

2. Why will your audience participate?

What kind of content or information do you plan on sharing? Will your content speak to your audience? Is the content engaging enough to inspire participation? Content is king in social media.

3. How will your audience participate?

Will your audience be comfortable responding to your blog posts? Is your audience the type to forward on information to friends and family? Will your audience be inspired to re-tweet your message? Audience participation is needed to spread your message(s).

Knowing your target audience is extremely important. If they are not willing to participate and share with you online, you might be wasting your time.

Is social media right for your organization? Now is the time to find out.

Over the course of my year in Nanjing, China, I learned about the word guanxi, which means "relationships." People seemed to think very highly of this somewhat puzzling word. The phrase, "he has good guanxi," would inevitably receive significant admiration displayed through a great deal of head nodding and grunts of approval. Despite my initial puzzlement about the meaning of the word, I would be profoundly influenced by the real culture of guanxi in China.

It happened while eating dinner with a famous business leader in Nanjing. During the course of an eight-hour twelve course meal together, and despite great communication difficulties, the two of us became friends for life. I have yet to meet an individual who was as genuinely and unconditionally interested in me, my country, my thoughts, my family, my business, and my beliefs.

This experience taught me a great deal about guanxi and the Ancient Chinese Art of Relationships. By the end of my trip, I realized that my accomplishments in China would not have been achieved without the wonderful relationships that I had developed. Here’s what I learnt through guanxi:

1. Slow down. Be patient. Great relationships take time.
2. Be polite. Say thank you. Show respect. Tell people how much you appreciate their investment in you. Write hand written notes. Learn how to do a proper handshake.
3. Listen. Look people in the eyes. Show genuine interest. Ask tons of questions. Repeat their answers. Limit how much you talk.
4. Don’t judge. Give people a chance. The people you meet will teach you, inspire you and make you grow. Develop relationships with people from all walks of life.
5. Forgive. If people have upset you, deal with the issue for the sake of the relationship. Holding a grudge gets you nowhere.
6. Apologize. If mistakes have been made, don’t be afraid to offer a sincere apology. Admitting mistakes is a sign of strength, not weakness.
7. Stay in touch. Follow up with the relationships you have made. Keep a database of your contacts with a calendar of activities to maintain contact with them.
8. Ask for help. People love to help – show some vulnerability and let people in.
9. Lose your ego. People don’t want to be around people who make them feel small. Learn to talk the same language and use the same expressions as the people you meet with.
10. Have fun. Everyone likes to laugh. Humour is perhaps the most underrated networking technique.

Follow these basic principles and incorporate them into your daily behaviours. As your network of solid relationships expands, so too will your success in business and in life.

Interdisciplinary work between cognitive scientists and rhetorical theorists (people who study language) has recently shed light on the old maxim that the way you say or write something is just as important as what you’re saying.

What cognitive science has discovered:
Our brains operate along basic principles of rhythm, repetition, similarity, and difference (among others).

What rhetorical studies has discovered:
Rhetorical scholars point out that the very objects of their study – literary figures of speech – function along these same principles. For instance, figures of speech based on similarity and difference include rhyme, assonance, consonance, alliteration, and many more.

How these discoveries are related:
Since figures of speech align language to the way our brains operate, we can intuitively recognize the formal (or structural) patterns in the language of a message. This recognition subtly invites our participation, because our brains naturally detect and anticipate patterns and structures.

Just think of the last time you caught yourself singing along to Britney’s latest pop-atrocity. You despise the song, but your brain is simply delighted by its repetitive structure, strong rhymes, and consistent rhythm, and just can’t help but join in.

Philosopher and theorist Kenneth Burke explains that once you grasp the trend of the form in a message, it invites participation regardless of the subject matter. The result is a sort of “collaborative expectancy” between audience and message, inherently making the message more persuasive.

When applied to business communications, formal patterning can be used to:

• create parallel structure across sentences in a sales piece
• ensure message consistency across a company’s entire business communications
• weave a powerful metaphor throughout your business proposal

Ultimately, science has reinforced a powerful principle to guide business communications:

Literary figures of speech improve the persuasiveness of a message because they align language with the ways that our brains operate.

Knowledge is power, so market research can be a source of competitive advantage for many companies. However, when it comes to research, companies need to work smarter, not harder. There are mountains of data available and the sheer volume can be overwhelming. Here’s the trick – ignore most of it.

For small and medium sized businesses, market research should be managerial (not scientific) in nature.  Gather enough facts to test an assumption, but no more. In a business situation, anything more is a waste of time and effort – and both are precious commodities for your business.

The saying "Don't boil the ocean" means don't try to analyze everything. You need to be selective; figure out what your priorities are and identify the most efficient way to meet them. Know when you’ve gathered enough information and then stop. Otherwise, the time spent will not justify the return, much like trying to boil the ocean to get a handful of salt.

Specifically, aim to integrate research activities into your daily operations rather than undertaking one major research project every year. For instance:

• Organize monthly focus groups: they’re easy to set up and can be effective sources of practical, action-oriented information.  
• Train your employees to ask two or three research questions every time they speak with a customer.  
• Form a small advisory group to act as a sounding board on new product ideas, target markets, or marketing campaigns.

A managerial, ongoing approach to research can yield valuable returns. Don’t assume that because you’ve been in business for 30 years, you know your customers. Things change and so do customer needs. Learn to understand what makes your customers tick without having to wade through an ocean of information.

*(Adapted from Ethan Raisel’s The McKinsey Way, 1999)

Generally speaking, corporations communicate from a level that does not relate to their audience; messages are often filled with jargon or too general. Consequently, they spend considerable resources trying to figure out why their messages aren't getting through to their audiences. When we talk to people, whether it be men, women, adults, teenagers, seniors or children, if we don't reach to communicate at their level the signal is missed or, worse, misunderstood.

Recently, I attended the International Association of Business Communicators Western Regional Conference and was inspired by the information Steve Cresenzo shared in his powerful and entertaining workshop, "Taking the Corporate Out of Corporate Communications."  To hear him be so frank and honest about the corporate industry and the reality of its communications approach was refreshing and motivating.

Cresenzo's position is this:
In business, we fight many battles on a daily basis. But, when it comes to marketing and communications, the truth is…we're fighting the wrong battles:

• The battle to meet the deadline
• The battle to create something that will make it through the approval process

Cresenzo's key point is that we need to stop fighting the wrong battles, and start fighting the only battle that really matters:

• The battle to gain our audience's attention

Making our clients happy and meeting their goals is our ideal scenario. As a result, the pressure and satisfaction of meeting a deadline and earning approval can take focus. However, if we don't achieve the audience's attention and desired reaction, both the deadline and the client's approval have little benefit. Mediocre messaging may be comfortable and meet the status quo, but typically fails to really "move" a market.

When making decisions about messaging for branding, advertisements, newsletters, annual reports, or any other communications materials, we must take our personal opinion out of the equation and focus our analysis on what will compel the target audience to action. What I (or the client) likes doesn't matter; what the audience likes does.

When we make a conscious effort to take the time to understand the target market's needs and see messages from their point of view, we're moving in a direction that achieves results.

Considering these options, which sounds riskier to you?

a. missing the deadline or challenging the approval process
b. missing the mark on moving your audience

I vote b.

In Ted's post, Marketing Starts Sooner Than You Think, he stated that traditionally, marketing is seen as the last piece in the puzzle, an afterthought of activities to take something to the market. Today in our globally competitive marketplace, strong marketing starts with strategy and positioning long before diving into the more familiar activities of branding and execution.

So what is strategy and where does marketing fit it?

Strategy involves choice. Specifically it means choosing what, and what not, to focus on. In marketing this means being at the table to decide what the company or product is going to do and who it speaks to. It also means deciding to not speak to all the other segments. Too often we see companies try to be all things to all people. And while this may sound like stating the obvious, choosing not to do something or not to speak to a client’s needs is not easy. When the question "what if some of our clients aren’t happy about our choice?" arises, the strong marketing strategy answer is "that’s ok".

Being strategic means choosing a focus and choosing to not spend time or energy on areas not within that focus. This may mean that you lose customers, but you simply cannot make everyone happy all the time. By trying to do so you will most definitely not make anyone REALLY happy.

Why is all of this important? Because consumers today don’t settle for just good. They need great. Increased competition, globalization, technology, all of these factors have contributed to create a world where consumers are savvy, skeptical, and impatient.

Without a unique, focused, and valuable position, the market will typically default to three possible fallbacks in choosing a company, service or product.

1. Lowest price – If every company is the same, then the cheaper one is better.
2. The incumbent – If every company is the same, then let's just stick with who we used last time.
3. Biggest profile – If every company is the same, then let's go with the one we've heard of.

In today's market you need to create a 'wow' experience and you cannot do this without focused effort and expertise.

The result may be that you have to say "no" to some of your customers, but if done well, even this will help solidify your position as an expert that brings value.

Choose what you are going to focus on and who are going to speak to, and do it spectacularly. You will not make everyone happy and you may even lose customers, but you will wow those you keep and your business will thrive as a result.

For my grandfather, sitting on the deck at his Pigeon Lake cottage was not just a pastime, it was a way of life. There was one particular morning on the deck that truly changed my life. Grandpa was worried about our dog, Laker. Laker had been logging 12- to 14-hour days for the past month hunting a squirrel. She would crane her neck to look into trees hoping to catch a glimpse of her prey. Grandpa was worried that Laker was going to get a permanent neck kink and, as a result, decided that we should shoot the squirrel.

With a pellet gun in one hand and a rum and coke in the other, Grandpa and I spent hours that day pulling the trigger. I think we used over six packets of pellets. After each miss, Grandpa would yell “egad!” or “oh crow!” or “dag nabbit!” Mom spent most of the day trying to ignore us. Then, in a sudden fateful moment, one pellet ricocheted off the flag pole and struck the squirrel with a killing blow! We gasped and hurried over to the squirrel. Looking down on it, Grandpa turned to me, and I noticed a small tear trickling down his cheek.

After the burial ceremony, Grandpa looked me in the eyes and said; “Jared, we Smith men were never good hunters. It’s a lonely sport, just not a fit with our personality. We’re people people. And you know what? If I look back at all the success I have had in business, I can’t really take any of the credit. It’s because of the people I have surrounded myself with. If you want to be incredible, surround yourself with incredible people.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was it — my life-changing moment. In the midst of the emotion and chaos of squirrel hunting, Grandpa had found a way to impart a wisdom that would eventually impact on every aspect of my life.

Look around you: your family, your friends, your staff, and especially your clients. Are they incredible? If not, it could be time to make some changes.